Tension [JEONGMIN]

Chapter 16

Jeongyeon

The air was always hot and humid. It was August after all. She felt drops of perspiration appear on her forehead during the short amount of time she spent running up the open stairways of the JYPE building.

They had just finished recording for the day, in preparation for their upcoming albums.
They were planning to release a Japanese as well as a Korean album in the month of October.

She was running late for a date. It was now officially five months since she had started dating Mark.

Back in February she had brought up a preposition, which had been for them to try dating for six months before deciding on anything serious. He had agreed and so they had been going out ever since.

Jeongyeon had felt so suffocated by the overload of work during the past few weeks and when she had mentioned it to Mark, he had promised to take her out for a drive. She had agreed to meet him in his car behind their boarding premises.

She reached her room panting. She had left the recording room before any of the other members, hence they hadn't arrived at the dorms yet.

She ran into the bathroom and took a quick shower, applying excessive amounts of lavender scented body gel in an attempt to get rid of the smell of sweat.

She felt excited to be finally getting out of the building, her anxiety had been growing day by day and she needed a bit of fresh air no matter how hot the weather was.

"Definitely having icecream today" she thought as she got out of the shower and wrapped herself in a clean white towel.

She got dressed in a casual white tshirt and a cute denim mini skirt. She then brushed out her short hair, which was now a reddish-brown and dabbed on some peach coloured lip balm.
She didn't want to bother with makeup.
Then grabbing a small shoulder bag, she hurried out of the building.

He was waiting inside the car, which was parked in a shadowed corner behind their building. She quickly walked towards it and got in, not wanting to be noticed by an outsider.

He greeted her with a hug. He smelt like fresh mint. She really liked that smell.
She thought he looked really good in his emerald green t-shirt.

"So...where would you like me to drive you princess?"

Yeah, that was his nickname for her. At first she had found it corny but now she didn't mind.

"I don't know..somewhere with ice cream. And also water. Like a stream. But with not many people. Somewhere peaceful."
He looked at her with an amused expression.

"Any other specifications?"

"Nope that's it" she said sitting back comfortably in the leather seats.

Then she reached out and touched his arm.
"The icecream part is very important."

He laughed. "Okay. Got it."

He drove along some narrow unfamiliar roads she couldn't really recall.

"Can I open a shutter? I could use some fresh air" she asked, wanting to feel the wind on her face.

"Sure"

They drove along a series of very secluded roads. She closed her eyes, enjoying the wind and sun on her soft face. Then she felt the car halt abruptly and felt his breath fanning her face. Her eyes fluttered open to find him staring into hers.

"I found an icecream shop" he revealed, the tips of his lips curling up in a smile.

They made their way to the small shop, set in a corner. They hadn't bothered with any coverage as no one seemed to be around. She felt so excited, there was an extra skip in her steps.
She heard his footsteps following her.

"Should I be annoyed that you have never been this excited to see me?"

She chuckled.

"Priorities bro. Priorities"

He reached her side and she saw his face wrinkle in disgust.

"Did you just bro-zone me??"

She laughed, opening the glass door of the shop.
As expected they were the only customers.
It was a cozy little place. There were three tables with a pair of large wooden chairs per table. The walls were a combination of wooden panels and soft pink wallpaper which were decorated with framed pictures of Elvis Presley.
She saw Mark eyeing them looking rather amused.

A middle aged man stood behind the counter and greeted them rather half heartedly , as if they had interrupted his sleep.
They both ordered two large sundaes, hers being chocolate and his, strawberry.

They sat down at the table the furthest away from the counter, hoping for some privacy. But it wasn't necessary as the man disappeared into a door behind the counter.
She wondered if he made the ice cream himself.

"How did you know about this place?"
she questioned Mark.

"I didn't. I just randomly saw it."

She narrowed her eyes and looked at him in mock suspicion.

"That's rather convenient "

"Really! " he laughed, his eyes crinckling at the corners "I had no idea this place existed. Don't blame me if the ice-cream tastes like shit though."

Their ice-cream arrived surprisingly fast. The old man layed down the tray between them with a loud thud before shuffling off with a forced "enjoy."

"When all you wanted to do was sing 'Jailhouse rock' in a pair of funky bellbottons but you're stuck with the family business " said Mark as the man disappeared behind the door again, out of earshot.

"Shshh!" she whispered smacking his arm and laughing silently.

She closed her eyes, savouring the chocolatey goodness in her mouth.

They talked about random things. She avoided any talk regarding work. Instead they had a stupid battle of strawberry vs chocolate. Sometimes she felt like he was more of a brother than a romantic interest.

They spent the rest of the evening near a small lake. It was rather well known and they could only spend about fifteen minutes outside before people started coming.
They quickly got into the car not wanting to be seen.
Upon her insistence, they proceeded to watch the lake from inside his car.
She felt a sense of calm wash over her, watching the water rippling beneath falling leaves and unknown creatures.

The skies grew dark and he drove her back, even though she could've stayed there forever.
He parked in the same spot as before.
She reached out and touched his cheek softly.

"Thanks for today"

She caught a glimpse of the shimmering white of his teeth through the darkness.

"Anytime princess"

He leaned over and captured her lips in a kiss.
It was almost routine behaviour. Something they did automatically before parting. Not that she didn't enjoy his kisses.
The sensation of his hands tangling in her hair and his tongue caressing hers like they were doing right then was quite pleasurable enough for her.
But that was it. There was no special spark.

She adored him as a person and she didn't want to hurt him but she also knew that he wasn't the one for her.

"Does he have to be though? What's wrong with a casual relationship? You are still young", a voice nagged in her head whenever she thought of this.

But it just didn't feel right to her, something was off. Their six months were almost over and she wondered if Mark felt it too.